Various knife or razor blade polishing and cleaning devices involve opposed abrasive surfaces urged toward each other by spring force; samples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 836,189; 1,096,354; 2,648,858 and 3,372,419; and in British Pat. No. 439,086. If the cauterizing implement is flat, similar to a knife or razor blade, the devices disclosed in the above listed patents may be satisfactory, but are not suited for cleaning surgical instruments such as cauterizing forceps, as the closing force increases as the surfaces are separated, resulting excessive force being applied to the cleaning device.